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Canopy Growth to Invest Up to $500 Million in Hemp Production in U.S. States

The Canada-based cannabis company previously announced an investment of $100 million to $150 million to process and produce hemp in New York after securing a license from the state’s government officials in January.

It now plans to increase the total investment in U.S. hemp to up to $500 million by adding hemp production in two to three other states in the U.S., Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton told Yahoo Finance.

“We’ll do it state by state right now, because what has to happen is the state needs to regulate what is permissible for CBD,” Linton said. “So we'll probably have three or four states that have big populations and progressive leadership who want to have hemp become part of their actual job creation industrial platform.”

New analysis by a marketing research group suggests the hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) market could growing dramatically over the next several years and quickly outpace the market for legal marijuana.

According to a report from the Brightfield Group, the hemp-derived CBD market could reach $22 billion by 2022.Bethany Gomez, director of research for the Brightfield Group, told Rolling Stone magazine that hemp-CBD has moved out of specialty retail shops and into cosmetics, natural food products and health supplements.

“It’s being used for everything you can think of - sports, triathlons,” she said. “People want to buy it for their grandma, for arthritis. Women get it for PMS and endometriosis — common things that people have been using over the counter medications.”

Gomez acknowledged there are limits on the hemp-derived CBD market due to current federal prohibitions on cannabis. But those restrictions could change quickly, depending on whether Congress passes the 2018 Farm bill – which would legalize hemp cultivation nationally

More US farmers planting industrial hemp as they prepare for federal legalization

As federal lawmakers consider the future of industrial hemp as a legitimate crop, a growing number of farmers are already planting hemp in anticipation of its full federal legalization as part of the 2018 Farm Bill.

More than 25,000 acres of hemp was reportedly harvested in the U.S. last year, or more than double the amount produced in 2016 – due in part to a federal measure that allows hemp to be grown for pilot and academic programs.

The rapidly-growing medical and health products market for cannabidiol (CBD) produced from hemp has helped to prompt this dramatic expansion.

According to MerryJane.com, some hemp cultivators are reporting revenue of around $90,000 per acre, compared to the $600 per acre a farmer might make from an acre of alfalfa.

International Hemp Seeds Market Projected to Grow by 24% Annually between Now and 2025

Growing international demand for hemp seeds as a food product created a hemp seed market valued at $380 million last year, according to a recent report.

That report, from India-based Garner Insights, also projects the global hemp seeds market to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 24.0% percent between now and 2025 – with the market reaching $2.1 billion by the end of 2025.

China is reportedly the world’s largest supply of hemp seeds, with a production market share of nearly 30% in 2016.

Report: Global industrial hemp market size expected at $10.6 billion by 2025A recent report projects the international industrial hemp market will increase significantly over the next seven years, reaching $10.6 billion US by 2025.

According to the report by Grand View Research, Inc. the worldwide industrial hemp market is expected to expand at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 14 percent during that period.

Growing population numbers, rising disposable income and increasing calls for hemp products across a wide variety of sectors are expected to boost that demand.

The publication adds that in the North American market, industrial hemp is projected to see a volume-based CAGR of 17.6 percent. That increase is due in part to growing demand from the automotive industry for hemp-derived panels, to be manufactured as an alternative to fiberglass products

Oversupply and foreign competition pushing down industrial hemp prices in Canada​Canada’s domination of the North American industrial hemp market is fading.

According the Saskatchewan-based website The Western Producer, Canadian farmers grew all the hempseed in North America as recently as 2013 – while Canadian processors sold hemp oil, protein and seed to U.S. customers and overseas markets.

But now overproduction in Western Canada, coupled with the growing numbers of U.S. farms cultivating hemp, has pressured hemp prices.

The website says conventional hemp prices fell 20 to 20 cents per pound in Canada this past spring, to around 50 to 55 cents per pound.

It also quotes Health Canada, the nation’s regulator of industrial hemp, which reports Canadian farmers planted 138,000 acres of hemp last year – up from 70,000 acres in 2015 and 100,000 acres in 2016.

Another factor: South Korea, a major purchaser of Canadian hemp seed and hemp products, is purchasing more hemp from China, which is selling its industrial hemp at lower prices.

Freedom Leaf Unveils Plans for Largest Indoor Hemp Nursery in Europe​Nevada-based Freedom Leaf, Inc. says it has acquired what it expects to become the largest indoor hemp nursery in Europe, if not worldwide.

According to Weed News the international company purchased a former poinsettia nursery, a 430,000-square-foot greenhouse complex, in Valencia, Spain for €4,100,000 ($4.75 million).

The article says Freedom Leaf is expecting 100,000 plants to be harvested in this first summer crop, with a yield of between 200 to 400 grams per plant. In Europe, hemp bud is reportedly selling for between €45 ($52.11 US) to €$450 ($521.00 US) per kilogram, depending on the product’s seed stock and strain.

“With this acquisition, Freedom Leaf intends to become the largest indoor hemp producer in Europe, where there is a booming market for CBD products,” Freedom Leaf co-founder and CEO Clifford Perry told Weed News.

Demand for industrial hemp on the rise in EuropeHundreds of individuals and representatives from 40 countries are expected to meet in Cologne, Germany on June 12-13, for the 15th annual International Conference of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA).

Europe has seen a revival of industrial hemp production and manufacturing since the early 1990s. According to EIHA, European hemp cultivation has picked up dramatically over the last seven years, from around 8,000 hectares (19,768 acres) in 2011 to 26,000 hectares (64,247 acres) in 2016 to about 43,000 (106,255 acres) hectares last year.

EIHA says the expansion of hemp cultivation in Europe is being driven mainly by “demand in the food sector,” as well as the relatively recent debut of cannabidiol (CBD) products in European markets.

“Here too demand is high,” the organization said, “but cannot be met sufficiently due to a patchwork of national regulations.”

Oversupply of marijuana prompts many Oregon pot growers to switch to hemp

As reported by Cannabis Benchmarks, the U.S. Cannabis Spot Index fell by 2.8% for the week ending May 18th. And nowhere was that marijuana price decline larger than in Oregon – where the state’s spot index sank to an historic new low for the third straight week in a row.

Much of that drop in Oregon is being blamed on over-production by the state’s pot growers.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Oregon’s inventory for legal marijuana is reportedly near 450,000 kilograms (one million pounds) of usable flower, with another 159,000 kilograms (350,000 pounds) of marijuana extracts, edibles and tinctures.

That glut of legal marijuana is also causing many legal pot growers in Oregon to switch over to hemp production.

The AP says applications in Oregon for licenses to grow hemp have jumped more than twenty-fold over the past three years, to the point where Oregon is now second in the nation (after Colorado) among the 19 states with active hemp cultivation.

Crawford said conventional hemp prices in Canada have dropped about 20 cents so far this year, to around 55 cents per pound. But organic hemp prices remain higher, he added, at around $1.80-$1.85 Canadian per pound.

And some producers say that even while prices have dropped, hemp farmers are still seeing profitability.​Click here to read the complete article